Tripoli/ Washington, April 3
Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi were today locked in a fierce battle for control of Libya’s key eastern oil town of Brega, amid a report that loyalists of the embattled leader had put forward a proposal to end the civil war in the country.

Government forces pounded besieged Misurata, the country’s third largest city and the main rebel stronghold in the west, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

According to BBC, a doctor in Misurata, 214 km east of capital Tripoli, said his clinic was overwhelmed.

“We have one killed, three in the operating room now, one with an amputated leg, we have one in ICU (intensive care) because of shell fragments in his chest and we have six wounded with different wounds and they are waiting for an operation but we have only three operating rooms,” Al Jazeera quoted Ayman as telling the BBC.

Militarily, the rebellion appears to be locked in a stalemate. Amid relentless air strikes on Gaddafi’s soldiers by the international coalition, a see-saw battle ensued between the pro-Gaddafi forces and the rebels for the third straight day in and around the strategic town of Brega, 800 km east of Tripoli.

The rebels claimed that they had regained control over Brega. However, it is unclear who controls the key oil town, which has been the scene of fierce fighting over the past few days when pro-Gaddafi forces returned after being driven out by rebel forces.

Meanwhile, veteran Libyan diplomat Ali Treiki has resigned from official duties, Arab League sources in Cairo said today, the latest in a string of officials to abandon Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

Treiki, a former foreign minister, held talks in Cairo with Arab League chief Amr Mussa, but refused to make any press statements. — Agencies

Lahore, April 3
Two suicide bombers struck a crowded Sufi shrine near Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan’s Punjab province today, killing at least 41 persons and injuring 115 in the latest in a series of attacks targeting religious sites.

The first bomber blew himself up near the entrance of Sakhi Sarwar Darbar, a shrine dedicated to 13th century saint Syed Ahmad Sultan.

The second bomber struck a security check post outside the shrine, which is located 30 km from Dera Ghazi Khan.

Regional police chief Ahmed Mubarak confirmed the attack was carried out by two suicide attackers and dismissed earlier reports that there were three blasts at the shrine.

He told the media that two would-be suicide bombers were arrested at the shrine. One of the arrested men was injured.

Mubarak identified one of the arrested men as Fida Hussain and said he was a resident of Dera Ismail Khan with links to the Afghan Taliban.

Rescue officials said they had removed 41 bodies from the site. A total of 115 persons were injured, including 25 who were in a serious condition, they said.

Thousands of people were attending the annual “urs” or festival of the shrine located in the Sulaiman mountain range when the bombers struck. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Witnesses said they had seen body parts and pools of blood near the entrance of the shrine. — PTI

Islamabad, April 3
Pakistani law enforcement agencies have stepped up security for three liberal women lawmakers and a human rights lawyer, including former minister Sherry Rehman, because of threats from extremists, according to a media report today.

The four women who have spoken out against militants have become the target of terrorists, unnamed security officials were quoted as saying by The Express Tribune newspaper.

They are senior Pakistan People’s Party leader and former minister Sherry Rehman, former PPP spokesperson Fauzia Wahab, PML-Q parliamentarian Kashmala Tariq and Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir.

Tariq has been receiving kidnapping threats and has requested authorities to post guards at her residence, the report said.

Official documents of law enforcement agencies in Punjab province suggest that officials are hesitant to deploy regular police officers and instead want to use staff specially trained for personal protection, such as the Punjab Elite Force.

Other documents suggest that Rehman and Jahangir are also under threat.

Rehman had last year submitted a Bill to the National Assembly to amend the controversial blasphemy law and make it harder for extremists to exploit it.

Jahangir had supported Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death last year under the blasphemy law for allegedly insulting the Prophet. — PTI

Tokyo, April 3
The Japanese government said here today that it might take months to stop radiation leaking from a nuclear plant crippled by a huge earthquake and tsunami three weeks ago, as more bodies were recovered in devastated areas of northeast Japan.

An aide to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government’s priority was to stop radiation leaks that were scaring the public and hindering work on cooling overheated nuclear fuel rods. “We have not escaped from a crisis situation, but it is somewhat stabilised,” said Goshi Hosono, a ruling party lawmaker and aide to Kan.

“How long will it take to achieve (the goal of stopping the radiation leakage)? I think several months would be one target,” Hosono said on a nationwide Fuji TV programme.

Meanwhile, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) found a crack in a concrete pit at its reactor No 2 on the Fukushima Daiichi complex, generating readings of 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside.

The leaks did not stop after concrete was poured into the pit, and TEPCO turned to water-absorbent polymers to prevent any more contaminated water from going out.

The latest effort to staunch the flow of radioactive water into the Pacific started in the afternoon. Workers then topped the polymers with more concrete. “We were hoping the polymers would function like diapers, but are yet to see a visible effect,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Officials believe the crack could be one source of the radiation leaks that have hobbled efforts to control the six-reactor complex and sent radiation levels in the sea soaring to 4,000 times the legal limit.

The battle to cool overheated reactors and avoid dangerous meltdowns of the highly radioactive fuel rods has seen workers hose saltwater into reactors, but this has left the facility awash with contaminated saltwater, preventing workers getting closer to the reactors.

Nishiyama said fresh water was now being pumped into reactor Nos. 1, 2 and 3 using external power, which was more stable than the emergency diesel generators previously being used. He said the three reactors were now generally stable. — Reuters

The Showstoppers
	n Opaque watercolour of Maharaja Arjun Singh with his courtiers $27,500 n Painting of Maharaja Man Singh $16,250 n Ceremonial dagger from Madurai $158,500 n Album of Ragamala paintings $27,500 The oil portrait of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh that fetched Rs 1.04 crore at a Sotheby's auction in New York

New York, April 3
A famous pearl canopy of Baroda sold for Rs 10.3 crore while an oil portrait of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh by celebrated artist Sobha Singh fetched Rs 1.04 crore at a Sotheby's auction here.

The total sale at the Indian and Southeast Asian Works of Art auction was $9,431,375 (Rs 43.42 crore approximately).

A copper Manjushri figure from the 11th/12th century sold for $2,322,500. An opaque watercolour heightened with gold on paper of Maharaja Arjun Singh with his courtiers sold for $27,500, four times its pre-sale upper estimate while another painting of Maharaja Man Singh fetched $16,250, twice the estimate.

A ceremonial dagger, Damascus steel blade with 2 ivory hilt from Madurai also exceeded its $20,000-30,000 estimate to sell for $158,500.

The portrait by Sobha Singh, 39 by 29 inches in size, bore his signature on the lower left portion. It shows the Maharaja seated on a lion-crested silver throne wearing a richly brocade coat and a jewelled turban, with his sword resting on his lap. The painting, which sold for $236,500, had a pre-sale estimate of $300,000-500,000.

On the other hand, the exquisite bejeweled and pearl canopy was created en suite with the world renowned Pearl Carpet of Baroda that was sold at Sotheby's Doha on March 19, 2009.

These are the only two surviving pieces from an ensemble of five commissioned in 1865 by then Maharaja of Baroda, Khande Rao Gaekwad (1856-1870).

The foundation of silk is densely embroidered overall with a design worked in strings of natural Basra pearls, measuring approximately 1-3mm, and English coloured glass beads. Approximately 9.5 lakh pearls and beads have been used to decorate the field.

For over 100 years, the Pearl Canopy of Baroda has been hidden from public view. The 1903 Delhi showcase of Indian Art is the last time the canopy was on view until its sudden appearance in 2010 in the exhibition “Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts” at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Other sales included an illustration to the Gita Govinda ($422,500), an album of Ragamala paintings ($27,500) and a prince visiting his harem in a palace courtyard ($37,500). — PTI

London, April 3
A unique six-foot high, life-size portrait of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, an Ottoman gilt bridle of of Tipu Sultan and an inscribed Mughal emerald personal seal will be the highlights of auction here on Tuesday.

The largest known Mughal painting, with an estimated price of upwards of £1 million pounds, will lead Bonham's sale of works of Indian and Islamic art. The unique painting of Jahangir, who ruled India from 1605-1627, is attributed to the Mughal artist Abul Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman or "wonder of the age". The emperor is shown seated on a gold decorated throne holding a globe, wearing elaborate robes and jewellery.

The Ottoman gilt bridle, breastplate and crupper was taken from the residential quarters of Tipu Sultan (1750-99), Sultan of Mysore (Seringapatam), in the 18th century, and brought to England by Field Marshall Sir Stapleton Cotton. Made in Turkey of red morocco, the brow-band, head- and cheek-pieces are faced with interlocking rectangular plaques of gilt-brass, each cast with an eight-petalled flowerhead design. It has a pre-sale estimate of £60,000-90,000. — PTI